The United States division of Australian-headquartered Austal has been awarded a US Navy contract to construct one Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
The total value of the contract is US$432.1 million. The contract includes options for nine additional vessels over the following five years.
Austal says that it will immediately commence preparation work including a US$140 million facility expansion and workforce development, which will take approximately 12 months to complete. Construction of the first LCS vessel will commence in early 2012 and is scheduled for delivery in 2015.
The aluminium warships will be built at Austal's US shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, and will more than double Austal's US workforce to around 3,800 employees.
The LCS program began in 2002 with the US Navy's pursuit of a new class of up to 55 ships for multi-mission support. The LCS is envisioned to be a versatile, networked, agile, surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals.
Disclosure: Members of the Baird family or companies in the Baird Publications group own shares in Austal.
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